Yesterday was a typical morning on the farm.

Translation: hassles.

We were up at the crack of dawn. That is such
a energetic thing to say. Actually we just like
getting up at the crack of dawn. And, why is it
called the "crack of dawn"? That sounds so
dramatic and harsh. Dawn really comes traipsing
in so softly and lightly that it is there before
you quite realize it.

We were up at the dawning of the day. Kent was
studying and I was baking for a neighbor who lost
a young baby this week to pneumonia. Kent went
out to hang some new hay feeders we bought this
week. He wants to spread out the 11 bovine mouths
we have to feed. When he went out, though, he saw
we had a major problem. A cow had gotten her foot
stuck through the slats of a metal chicken roost
that was in the barn. She was banging and clanging
around like a mad thing. So, Mr. Farmer asked for
Mrs. Farmer to come out and help him, as though I
can do anything with an insane cow.

I foolishly tiptoed through the muck and other
unmentionables to the barn in my nice clothes and
good shoes. "Laurie, we've got a major problem,"
said the farmer to his wife." I could see that.
The stuck cow just happened to be one of our
wilder cows. "Okay, I'll go get some feed."
That is my answer to everything. Feed them,
they'll feel better and so will I.

As I was turning to go, the farmer said, "And get
some boots on, you crazy woman." (Well, those weren't
his exact words, but I can read between the lines
as well as the next person.)

I decided to change shoes and pants and by the time
I got back out there the foolish cow had banged and
clanged her way to freedom. So, now all that was
left was to hang the new feeders. That took some
ingenuity, but Kent is full of that, so they got
hung in due time.

There is no better sight than the sun slanting
in the door of the barn while hay dust is sifting
throuh the shafts of sunlight; and there is no
better feeling than watching that dust dance in
the air while you are standing in the barn on a
balmy December day.

Of, course, there is still the muck and other un-
mentionables to be gotten off the good shoes. A good
walk down the gravel does wonders to clean off
shoes, though.

Life is good. Farm Life is good. Most of all God is
good.